mason city ice bowl

The 7th Annual Mason City Ice Bowl was largely successful this year, with golfers raising $3,195, along with 893 pounds of food for Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank. This record-breaking year came with some hurried planning by the Ice Bowl’s leader, Bill Orozco, his girlfriend, Harley Love, and friend Krystal Sanders.

Orozco has been in charge of the Mason City Ice Bowl for four years. The event originally started in Clear Lake at One Vision, but when East Park expanded its course, disc golfers in the area took advantage of the 18-hole course, which was played in two rounds on March 13.

The Ice Bowl began as a fundraising event series by the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) with the aim to fight hunger, but after the attacks on September 11, 2001, PDGA has opened the event to fundraise for local charities. In Mason City, the original purpose remains.

“It’s always nice to give back” Orozco said of the event. “I’m in a position right now where I can say that I’m better off than I used to be. I’ve been hungry before. It’s really nice to be able to give back. Very rewarding at the end of the day.”

53 people participated in this year’s Ice Bowl, with three women participating. Orozco noted some participants traveling from as far as Mankato, Austin, and Des Moines. He also noted two of the three participating women were pregnant.

Sanders said that with more time next year, their plans will include sponsors from local businesses, as well as individual sponsors. This year’s entry fee was $25 and 10 cans of food. There were also sponsorships for each of the 18 holes, and with 26 sponsorships, nearly three quarters of the course was double-sponsored.

An individual also donated hand-painted trophies this year by Mark Schave of Albert Lea.

This year’s event was rather warm compared to past years, at around 50 degrees, but that didn’t stop the chili from running out during the lunch break. Orozco remembers past years when disc golfers would play in the snow and ice. Orozco’s first Ice Bowl back in 2009 was one such year:

“Somebody showed up on my doorstep January 15 and they were like ‘Hey, do you want to go play a tournament?’ I looked out the window and there was a foot of snow on the ground. I said ‘Are you crazy?’ and then we went down there with over 100 people. They had a chili contest and raised like $7,000 down there and 2,000 pounds of food. I thought, ‘why don’t we do that?’”

Orozco has been working to give back to the community since then. He’s been playing disc golf since 2008, and his favorite part of the recreational sport is the people he meets along the way.

“The best part about (disc golf) is you can go out and purchase a frisbee for five dollars. You don’t have to spend $500 on a golf club, you don’t have to worry about greens fees because most courses are in public parks in Iowa.”

The open availability of the sport has led Orozco to meet people of all ages and walks of life, and he’s found that there aren’t many sports like disc golf, where your competition encourages your success.

Orozco noted that the success of the Ice Bowl rested on participants and on Harley and Sanders, who were instrumental in putting the event together. 

“I couldn’t have done it without them.”